DAYTON, Ohio — New numbers from the state show cases of cyclosporiasis are slowing.
But the Ohio Department of Health said new cases, of about 400 cases in a week, are still well above the norm. They are usually about 70 annually.
News Center 7’s Xavier Hershovitz investigated the new numbers, and the precautions health leaders said people still need to take.
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“It’s still scary. Like it crosses my mind a lot,” said Aaron Pierce of Centerville.
Pierce and Bradley McCarroll said the cyclospora outbreak has been top of mind for them.
“I’m just maybe more thoughtful about like where I’m eating or maybe where the lettuce is coming from,” said McCarroll of West Carrollton.
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The latest numbers show cases in the Buckeye State are nearing 6,000 and three weeks ago, cases were just over 58,000.
Just weeks before that, cases sat at about 1,600.
It shows a serious jump in cases throughout July, but cases have slowed in August.
The number of cases has been becoming steadier right now and starting to decrease a little bit,” said Dan Suffoletto of the Dayton-Montgomery County Public Health.
Suffoletto said while that is good news, people still need to be careful.
“When we’re talking about food,” he said. “Obviously, that’s something that people use every day. So, there’s always going to be some possibility there of some sort of contaminant getting into the food.”
He said that’s why it’s important to always thoroughly wash your produce and pay attention to any recalls.
“Would I go buy a bag of iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms? Probably not. But would I go buy romaine from somewhere else? Probably,” McCarroll said.
That’s how Aaron and Bradley are navigating this outbreak, cautious but informed.
Since the start of the outbreak, farmers’ markets have seen a surge in customers.
We talked to a farmer this afternoon, and he said his farm stand has seen an increase in customers.
He said many are shopping locally with the hope that it cuts down on any potential illness.
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